Harry Potter and the Video Game Life
by Temairine
Summary: So Harry Potter dies. He gets a second chance. In an alternate universe. Ruled by the Dark Lord. Which is actually not an evil dictatorship... Something's not quite right... Maybe it's the fact that his life is now a video game, and he has to raise stats and level up? Well... that's part of this new world Harry has landed in! Heavily AU, Harem, Video Game Plot, Harry Centric
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter and the Video Game Life**

**Authors Note: This story is heavily alternate universe and is based on a ridiculous scenario I had where the Dark wins ages ago, and everything is different. This will probably be a harem fanfiction, and rather than violent will be more socially and politically focused... Do not expect this to be realistic; there are probably many flaws in it. So: you have been warned!**

The Battle of Hogwarts was not raging on. It had been brought to a halt as all who were present had their attention focussed on the two figures standing in the centre, while the formerly battling figures stood in place, as if stunned. Spiralling outwards clusters of witches and wizards were briefly illuminated in a myriad of colours as their spells fizzled out on the tips of their wands. Harry Potter and the Dark Lord met face to face for their final confrontation.

His life flashed before his eyes. Fragmented memories appeared then faded, much like the spells. Adrenaline spurred the speed of his recollection merging them together into one overpowering memory, wrought with many blurred, incomprehensible emotions. The memory was of his childhood spent at Hogwarts, laughing with his friends. The memory was of the only true time he had been alive, the only time worth remembering in the few seconds that he had left.

Looking back, the danger had permeated the air even from his first year, when they had first stumbled upon Fluffy. Hindsight was a wonderful thing, especially when it was too late for anything at all to be done. Maybe he should have taken seeing Fluffy as a warning, he definitely should have taken Voldemort as one, but after the Dursley's treatment, well, he would accept danger just so that he wasn't alone.

Ha! He was alone now, wasn't he? Just like the prophecy had stated, it all came down to him and Voldemort, alone. Why him, why did the prophecy have to pick him? Harry didn't know the answer to that. Only his third year had been free from an attempt by Voldemort to gain power, or once he gained power, to kill him.

Harry Potter was going to die. He would die a hero, a martyr, but nonetheless he would die. And quite frankly, Harry Potter did not want to die. He wanted to live in peace with his friends, but that had never been an option, had it? Dumbledore really should have just told him the prophecy up front. Then, at least, he wouldn't have been able to hope for a normal, happy life.

Of course, he wouldn't have been able to love either, which would have been opposite to what Dumbledore wanted. The old man's kindness had been his biggest cruelty. If Harry had been raised as a tool, with the Dursley's upbringing setting a precedent he wouldn't have been hurt emotionally. He would have never had emotions in the first place. Nothing would have changed.

But instead Dumbledore had attempted to give Harry a proper childhood, and had only set him up for further hurt. Was it crueller to completely deny someone a feeling, or giving them a taste of happiness and then making it impossible to experience it again? He couldn't say which hurt more; after all he had only experienced the second option.

Hurt... Hurting... Hurting...

Harry saw the green light streaking towards him, and he felt it collide with his forehead, felt his body collapse, and watched as everything went black.

It was too late after all...

**Game Over!**

**Lived to 17 Years: +170 Points  
Survived 10 Years with Dursley's Full Time: +100 Points  
Survived 7 years with Dursley's Part Time: +35 Points  
Made Friend: Ron: +50 Points  
Beat Malfoy in a Flying Competition: +25 Points  
Made Friend: Hermione: +50 Points  
Earned Life Debt: Hermione: +100 Points  
Youngest Seeker in a Century: +70 Points  
Helped Defeat Troll: +20 Points  
Helped Hagrid with Norbert: +10 Points  
Caught the Winged Key: +5 Points  
Faced Voldemort: Shade Form: +40 Points  
Flew a Flying Car: +10 Points  
Spied on Malfoy: +5 Points  
Found Acromantula Nest: +10 Points  
Survived Acromantula Nest: +10 Points  
Found Chamber of Secrets: +25 Points  
Made Myrtle Smile: +15 Points  
Defeated Basilisk: +300 Points  
Defeated Voldemort: Riddle Form: +200 Points  
Earned Life Debt: Ginny: +100 Points  
Outwitted Malfoy Senior: +10 Points  
Gained Dobby's Freedom: +50 Points  
Survived Dementors: Initial Encounter: +10 Points  
Earned Friend: Remus: +50 Points  
Mastered Patronus Charm: + 70 Points  
Defeated Malfoy: Dementor Disguise: +10 Points  
Gained Marauders Map: +10 Points  
Discovered Hermione's Secret: +10 Points  
Visited Hogsmeade: +15 Points  
Earned Life Debt: Peter: +50 Points  
Travelled in Time: +10 Points  
Saved Sirius: +200 Points  
Saved Buckbeak: +100 Points  
Hogwarts 2****nd**** Champion: +5 Points  
Defeated Hungarian Horntail: +35 Points  
Defeated the Mer: +35 Points  
Rescued Ron: +50 Points  
Rescued Gabrielle: +50 Points  
Dated Parvati: Yule Ball: +25 Points  
Survived the Maze: +10 Points  
Defeated Krum: +5 Points  
Solved the Sphinx's Riddle: +25 Points  
Shared with Cedric: +25 Points  
Escaped Graveyard: +50 Points  
Survived Crouch: +5 Points  
Earned Friend: Luna: +50 Points  
Earned Friend Neville: +50 Points  
Stood Up To Umbridge: +25 Points  
Did Not Tell Lies: +100 Points  
Formed DA: +100 Points  
Survived Department of Mysteries: +400 Points  
Realised Prophecy: +40 Points  
Trashed Headmaster's Office: +5 Points  
Slug Club Member: +20 Points  
Won Liquid Luck: +10 Points  
Suspected Malfoy: +15 Points  
Dated Luna: Christmas Party: +100 points  
Avoided Love Potion: Romilda Vane: +20 Points  
Saved Mr Weasley: +50 Points  
Earned Life Debt: Mr Weasley: +100 Points  
Saved Ron: +50 Points  
Defeated the Cave: +100 Points  
Survived Invasion: Hogwarts: +200 Points  
Attended A Weasley Wedding: +10 Points  
Survived Nagini: + 20 Points  
Escaped From Malfoy Manor: +50 Points  
Horcruxes Destroyed: +1000 Points**

**Total Positive Points: 4880!**

**Total Negative Points: 4670!**

**Overall Points: 210! Tokens = 21!**

**Karma: Heroic Martyr  
Rating: Not Specifically Bad...**

**Do You Wish to See Your Negative Points In Detail?**

**Yes: Proceed to Negative Points List  
No: Return to Menu**

Harry stared, completely lost for words at the screen... He was dead? Why was his life ending like he was a character in a video game? What in Merlin's name was going on...? He should be dead... he was hit with the killing curse... so why...

"No, this can't be right!"

**Menu!**

**New Game: Harry begins again!  
New Game +: Harry begins again, memories intact!  
Load Game: Harry loads a saved game: Not Available!  
Exit: Harry dies!**

Okay, the next great adventure was highly overrated. It also was highly irritating, presumably because it reminded him of one of Dudley's video games. He had had enough of the Dursley's while he was alive, thank you very much. It was in the middle of this somewhat, okay, very sarcastic tirade that the words actually began to sink in.

The first thing that Harry noticed was the last line, which if he chose, he would die. Now it took a while to comprehend that if he would die after that option, then he was not in fact dead. And if he was not, as a matter of fact dead, then he should be alive. This was unless he was a ghost or something – but a precursory check of his hands showed colour. So Harry was currently not the imprint of a deceased soul then.

The other thing he could be was an inferi, which was a more realistic possibility. Wracking his brain, Harry tried to discern exactly what it was that Snape had said about inferi and ghosts. He honestly couldn't recall though. Snape did an excellent job of making you tune out everything that he was saying – otherwise the sarcasm tolerance limit would break, resulting in negative points for Gryffindor, and maybe the opportunity to be on the receiving end of a glare so vicious that it was in no way hindered by an incredibly large nose in the way.

However Harry was pretty sure that inferi were mindless creatures which were controlled by another. Firstly he was thinking, which was always a good sign, and secondly, he was able to move around, though the damn screen followed him, floating innocuously in the air regardless of where he positioned himself. So 99.9% chance that he was not an inferi.

The final possibility, if Harry was truly not in fact dead was that this was some sort of construct created by Voldemort in order for... Well, Harry couldn't quite think of a reason for Voldemort to create a scenario for this, but then who could explain the majority of things he did? Also, this was based on a Muggle video game, and unless Voldemort's reunion with his followers covered the latest in Muggle gaming he probably didn't know what a video game even was. He had been born a long time ago after all.

Besides, snake face and co probably thought that Muggle gaming involved torturing some innocent Muggle bystanders. So no, there was no elaborately constructed illusion from the Dark Lord. Ok, it was time for the ultimate test to see if this was all a fantasy.

"Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldy, Voldy Voldemort..."

A few chants of the taboo name later, along with some choice insults on the hypocrisy of a half-blood preaching pureblood superiority, and Harry was convinced. Voldemort would have had him under the crucio by now, or one of his followers with the skill to carry out such a ridiculous plan would have as well.

So, with the obvious ruled out, Harry dared to contemplate the idea that this might actually be a real game... And that he might actually have a chance at a future which did not involve death or, for that matter, being Dark Lord Bait. And that thought gave him a rush of hope. An out of control rush of hope that was determined to breed. So he got more and more optimistic.

The game, whatever it was, was giving Harry a second chance! He could live his life again... He could save everyone... damn he really was living up to his karma ranking as a heroic martyr, wasn't he? He considered, if he was to pick the second option, then that might not be impossible though... Harry would be able to take things seriously, to prepare himself to defeat Voldemort, and maybe he could gain enough skill to actually defeat snake-face this time!

"New Game Plus"

**Difficulty!**

**Normal: Scoring at normal rate  
Hard: Scoring at twice normal rate  
Impossible: Scoring at triple normal rate**

"Err; I think that Normal would be the best, for some reason defeating Voldemort on impossible difficulty sounds, well you said it, impossible... "

Actually, thinking about it, defeating a Dark Lord is pretty impossible in the first place... Harry's mind chimed in, making him wonder what was the difficulty level on in his previous...life/death/existence?

**Difficulty: Normal**

**Yes  
No**

"Yes, the answer is most definitely yes!"

The screen melted away to reveal another screen.

**Please pick your World!**

**Kingdom of the Light: Played Once: Failed: Not Available!  
Kingdom of the Dark: Available**

Harry just stared. The game was going to give him a second chance in a universe where Voldemort had won and had apparently created a Dark Kingdom! Or maybe it was Grindewald... but that didn't matter: what mattered was that his friends would probably all be dead under a Dark Wizards Reign! Harry angrily punched the screen; his temper had once more got the best of him...

He had been so full of hope, it was like finding out about the prophecy again, and having his happiness go out the window once more. In his anger he had, however evidently hit the button which was the cause of his outrage in the first place. Harry gaped in sheer horror.

**World: Kingdom of the Dark**

**Yes?**

Why oh why wasn't there a 'no' button? Was it because his only other option was not available that they were making him choose a world of horror!? Another punch went straight through the screen and though he could feel his knuckles connect, there was not any pain, at all? What tormenting choice would he have to make next?

**Fathers!**

Wait... What?

**Please pick your Father!**

Well that wasn't so bad...

**Severus Snape**

Actually scrap that previous thought... he was going to be sick. That was the worst thing that he could possibly do!

**Father: Severus Snape**

**Yes  
No**

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not" Harry was waving his arms frantically, shouting no, and all the while shaking his head in his efforts to communicate to the game that he did not actually want Snape as his father!

**Please Pick your Father!**

**Severus Snape  
Remus Lupin  
Sirius Black  
Peter Pettigrew  
Arthur Weasley  
Gilderoy Lockhart  
Mundungus Fletcher  
Lucius Malfoy  
Regulus Black  
Rastaban Lestrange  
James Potter**

Finally, down at the very bottom, there was his father's name! Harry wasted no time at all in selecting the one man that he actually wanted as a father. Not that Sirius was bad; just... inexperienced with child-raising, assuming that he was going to go back as a child... It had said that he could begin again. Not that he should trust anything that thinks for itself if he couldn't see where it keeps his brain. Maybe it was because he wasn't wearing his glasses?

**Father: James Potter**

**Note: Due to disparities in the multiverse the surname will be changed to "Peverell"**

**Yes  
No**

Harry's thoughts were along the lines of... it's a surname... if I get my real father back... it is completely worth it. Also, it wasn't like he would be calling his father by his surname!

"Yes!"

**Mothers!**

**Please pick your mother!**

**Molly Prewitt  
Bellatrix Black  
Narcissa Black  
Andromeda Black  
Hestia Jones  
Emmeline Vance  
Aurora Sinistra  
Amelia Bones  
Lily Evans  
Minerva McGonagall  
Rita Skeeter**

Again this was a simple choice, and Harry was glad that his mother's name was on the list. He shuddered at the thought of having Bellatrix Lestrange as a mother... that was equal to having Snape as a father! He then promptly turned green at the thought of having them both as parents. It was moments like that that the memory charm existed for. If only he had a wand...

"Lily Evans"

**Error: Lily Evans is unavailable: Do you wish to learn more?**

**Yes  
No**

Harry paled... what had they done? Why couldn't his mother come back as well?

"Yes you bloody game, inform me why the one thing that would make me go to a Dark Lord Dictatorship, my parents, can no longer happen?"

**When Lily Potter, nee Evans performed the ritual to sacrifice herself for her son, and give him his protection, her life was erased from the multiverse as a consequence of her deal with us.**

His anger gave way to tears, as Harry sunk to his knees. His mother's life had been erased – because she had protected him. That had to be the most unfair... why was his mother being penalised for an act of love! Alright he sounded like Dumbledore there but still!

"You are an evil game! You're cruel and heartless and manipulative! Worse than Dumbledore! My... mother..."

The minutes ticked on, and Harry sobbed. All of a sudden a beep sounded, and the room lightened slightly as luminous words appeared.

**Apology: We were wrong in eliminating the life of Lily Evans.  
Recompense: While we are unable to recreate her as your mother, we may recreate her childhood  
Explanation: Lily Evans will be the same age, and attend school with you, though she is no relation  
Therefore: Please pick an alternate mother figure**

Harry stopped when he read it. For a moment he just stared... but at least he would know that she was alive... But who were this 'we'? Who were they? And were they watching him now? Was this really a game?

"No, calm down... calm down."

Harry took several deep gulps of air. His mother would be the same age as him... except for the fact that she wouldn't be his mother... But... she had sacrificed her life for him... this was the only way she could live again, and Harry was not going to deny his mother... no, Lily a second chance. Even if it was hard for him, he would do the right thing. He was not going to be selfish.

That dilemma resolved he now had to choose a mother figure. Tempted as he was to choose someone that he would hate, so that no-one could replace his former mother in his heart, which he knew would only backfire on him later. Besides, it would make his father unhappy, if what little he knew of the man was correct, to be married to someone like Rita Skeeter. Harry would have to be the bigger person here and choose someone nice, even though it hurt.

Ron's mother was immediately out of the running, he would never break up the close knit family, even if he was the only one who knew it. The Black sisters were out, Narcissa and Bellatrix were thoroughly disliked and loathed respectively, and he wouldn't want to erase Tonk's existence by choosing her mother as his.

In the end he decided to choose someone that he knew about, and who he knew was a good person, that would not cause major changes if they were to marry his father. That would mean it was a choice between Hestia Jones and Emmeline Vance. In the end he decided on Hestia, simply because he had known her better than Emmeline, due to the latter's untimely death.

"Hestia Jones"

**Mother: Hestia Jones**

**Yes  
No**

"Yes"

And with that Harry Potter became Harry Peverell.

**Ancestry!**

**Please pick your distant relatives!**

**Note: Since Harry Peverell is a Pureblood as a result of his parents both being Purebloods, only Wizarding families are available.**

**Malfoy  
Lestrange  
Black  
Lovegood  
Lockhart  
Bones  
Longbottom  
Gaunt  
Carrow  
Rosier  
Dolohov  
Weasley  
Parkinson  
Greengrass  
Bulstrode  
Dumbledore  
Lupin  
Pettigrew  
McGonagall  
Skeeter  
Nott  
Trelawney  
Fudge**

This choice was a slightly harder one for Harry to make... many of them would obviously not be a good idea. This included all death eater families, excepting the Blacks and including the Gaunts, who despite not being death eaters were Voldemort's ancestors – and being related to the Dark Lord, even distantly was a big no in Harry's book.

Fudge, Skeeter and other such people were also out. Harry had too much residual anger at Dumbledore to want to be related, and professors were out, it would change things too much. It wasn't that Harry didn't want things to change, but he did want to control them when they occurred. In the end he chose.

"Black"

**Ancestry: Black**

**Yes  
No**

"Yes"

Harry then thought about how glad he was that he hadn't chosen the first name on the list by accident, like he had almost done with Snape. Thankfully he would not be related to either Snape or Malfoy. Then it happened... A little voice whispered

"Wasn't Narcissa Malfoy's maiden-name Black?"

Harry froze for a second.

"I'm related to Malfoy!"

After Harry had finally managed to convince himself, a good while later, that he was only distantly related and so would never have to meet the ferret at some family reunion, he faced the screen once more. How much worse could it honestly get?

**Traits!**

**Please pick 1 Black, 1 Jones and 1 Peverell Trait**

**Black Traits: Pick 1**

**Black Magic Boost: Dark Arts +50, Magic +5  
Noble and Ancient: Politics +50, Knowledge +5  
Stars in the Sky: Astronomy +50, Charisma +5**

Harry groaned...evidently it could get worse. Idly he wondered if Bellatrix had picked number one of the three: if he had to pick any of them that one would definitely not be the first choice! The Dark Arts probably wouldn't be illegal in a world where Voldemort ruled, though... But he still wouldn't pick it!

"I guess I'll go with stars in the sky then. I could do with extra charisma, everyone turned against me at the drop of a hat before... To say nothing of what they'll think of someone advocating rights for muggles. Didn't that get someone blasted off the Black Family Tree?"

**Jones Traits: Pick 1**

**Fantastic Flyer: Flying +50, Endurance +5  
Hestia of the Hearth: Cooking +50, Perception +5  
Auror Extraordinaire: Duelling +50, Dexterity +5**

"Auror Extraordinaire, no doubt about it. If I'm going to be fighting a war, I am going to do it well this time round! Maybe then my friends won't die."

A bitter laugh broke the silence, Harry didn't even know if his friends would be alive. Ron might, he was a pureblood, even if he was considered a blood traitor, but Hermione was a different matter altogether. It was because of her blood status that she had been chosen for torture at Malfoy Manor.

She might have been tortured horribly before Harry could find her at worst, or she might know nothing about the Wizarding World at all at best! Somehow Harry couldn't see Voldemort welcoming Muggleborns to Hogwarts. The screen flashed again.

**Peverell Traits: Pick 1**

**Fantastic Flyer: Flying +50, Endurance +5  
Deathly Hallows: Lore +50, Fate +5  
Invisibility Cloak: Illusions +50 Control +5**

Harry smiled before making his choice. He really hadn't expected the flying Trait to come up again, but he was glad that it did. Flying had always felt like a link to his father, so inheriting the trait of being good at flying from him in this world was great. He was going to be selfish this once and keep part of his previous life with him.

"Fantastic Flyer"

**Appearance!**

**Please Select Your Features: Choose from Black, Jones and Peverell Features  
Note: Please Note this is your 11 Year Old Self, For Pictures of a 17 Year old you click [here]**

**You have [1] Mutation**

**[Hair Type]  
[Hair Colour]**

**[Facial Features]  
[Eye Colour]**

**[Skin Tone]**

**[Body Build]  
[Body Height]**

Harry noticed that there was an avatar which was representative of him at age 11. It was also marked 'Invalid due to Evan's Features' Being Present'. So basically he was not able to keep his eyes, which were his mothers, as well as any other features he had inherited from her. That... really hurt him, despite his attempts to reason with himself.

Harry started flicking through the selection of Hair Types, pointedly not looking at the Eye Colour button. There were three choices of hair. Peverell was his current messy, all over the place style, while Jones was straight and silky smooth. Black Hair, the last option he came to was lightly wavy, and that was the one he chose.

He saw the hair of his avatar change, and after tapping on the button to show him his 17 year old self, was pleasantly surprised with the results...

Next up was hair colour, made extremely simple by the fact that the only choice was the colour black. Now that Harry thought about it he remembered that Hestia Jones had had black hair, and that although Sirius's had been dark brown, he had been somewhat of an anomaly, much like Narcissa Malfoy's blondeness.

For Facial Features there were the more angular features of his father that in his previous self had been softened by his mothers more rounded ones. Then there were the Black family features, which were a definite no. He was not going to look like a male Bellatrix Lestrange. Last but not least were the Jones's features, which he ended up choosing, they seemed to be the most like his previous ones, and were... rather handsome in his opinion.

After some thought Harry thought about going with only the features from his father, but decided against it. This was his new start and anything that helped him separate his previous suffering from his future would be beneficial. He could tell himself this logically... but there was still a sick feeling in his gut at changing his eye colour... He skipped that one for the time being.

There was very little choice in the matter of skin colour/. So Harry settled for the Peverell pale complexion, in-between the Black's deathly pale and somewhat pinkish tones f the Jones's.

Body Build had very little effect on his 11 year old avatar, and made all the difference in the world to his 17 year old, future self. In the end he chose the Peverell build, since it maintained the agile build that had helped him dodge so many curses in the past, as well as helping him catch the snitch, but that was minor in comparison.

He was still short though! And he was angry when he found out that the Dursley's had caused him to unlock a fourth Body Build, titled malnourished, which gave him a height penalty. This had thankfully disappeared when he had chosen the Peverell build. Harry grinned. Watching your previously short 11 year old self grow a few inches, and your 17 year old self even more was satisfying! Even though it did put him at about average...

When it came to height, Harry grew another inch. The Black family were tall, making them the automatic choice. He was now at the positively thrilling level of taller than average! Okay, he was only a bit taller than average and was nowhere near Ron's level but at least he would be able to hold his head up high: both literally and figuratively! Upon finishing the last category, a tutorial sprang up, even if he couldn't finish avatar creation due to his still green eyes.

**Tutorial: Mutations: You may choose one feature that may deviate from your families**

Harry felt like Christmas had come early. And it was not Dursley Christmas come early, which involved cook us Christmas dinner you ungrateful little brat speeches, it was Hogwarts Christmas come early, which was great. Christmas aside Harry quickly chose the same emerald green eyes that he currently had as his single mutation.

**Confirm Avatar:**

**[Hair Type: Wavy]  
[Hair Colour: Black]**

**[Facial Features: Refined]  
[Eye Colour: Green]**

**[Skin Tone: Pale]**

**[Body Build: Lean]  
[Body Height: Taller than Average]**

**Yes  
No**

"I can do this. I can do this. Yes"

**Do you wish to retain your parseltongue ability?**

**Yes  
No**

"Yes, it did give me an advantage over Voldemort last time: also I would have never been able to open the chamber if I didn't have it. "

Harry had come to a decision, which was that he wouldn't let people find out about it unless he trusted them, and then he might just have a trump card to use!

**Do you wish to retain your status as a Horcrux?**

**Yes  
No**

Merlin... no wonder I died... there was still part of him in me, Harry thought frantically. Well that problem would soon be dealt with.

"No!"

**Do you wish to retain your near-sightedness?**

**Yes  
No**

"No! I would rather not need to wear glasses, why are you asking the obvious?"

**Attributes!**

**Please Choose Your Starting Attributes: Descriptions are as follows.  
Please note that while the average scores for an 11 year old wizard are 10, the average score goes up by 3 per year for the next 7 years.**

**Dexterity – your agility, flexibility and reflexes  
Endurance – your stamina and pain tolerance  
Strength – your physical power  
Intelligence – your ability to reason and think logically  
Knowledge – your ability to memorise and understand facts and theories  
Perception – your awareness of your surroundings  
Charisma – your skill at being charming and likeable  
Wisdom – your ability to read a situation, social or combative  
Willpower – your ability to resist outside influences and your determination  
Control – your skill at using magic  
Fate – your luck and place in the scheme of things  
Magic – your available reserve of magical power**

Ah! Harry suddenly understood exactly what he had been adding to when he had selected his traits. Although there were some attributes that he had not had the option to choose to improve, that was probably due to his choices of family. What were his scores... they would be beyond bad if they were based in his malnourished 11 year old self.

**Physical**

**Dexterity: 17  
Endurance: 10  
Strength: 6**

**Mental**

**Intelligence: 11  
Knowledge: 4  
Perception: 7**

**Social**

**Charisma: 7  
Wisdom: 4  
Willpower: 11**

**Supernatural**

**Control: 5  
Fate: 12  
Magic: 14**

**You gained 21 Tokens! Since 1 Token = 1 Attribute Point...  
You gain 7 Attribute Points Each Level and since you are Level 1 you have 7 +21 Attribute Points.  
The maximum level for an Attribute is 100.**

**You have [28] Points to spend!**

Okay.., his physical scores were okay, excepting strength, because they had received a large boost, but for his Charisma to be 7 in spite of the +5 boost meant that it was beyond low to start with! It was lower originally than his Wisdom which was a meagre 4! And the trend continued. Harry had a full half of his attributes lower than average, which would require points to correct. To be precise, they would require a lot of points.

In total it took Harry 27 points to bring his avatar up to the average level for his age in everything, and the lone remaining point was placed on Control, the reasoning being that if he had higher than average magic, he would need higher than average control. His scores were now completely generic... which was bad, and he really should specialise, but he had needed to bring up his glaring weaknesses. That had been barely managed and his scores were now...

**Physical**

**Dexterity: 17  
Endurance: 10  
Strength: 10**

**Mental**

**Intelligence: 11  
Knowledge: 10  
Perception: 10**

**Social**

**Charisma: 10  
Wisdom: 10  
Willpower: 11**

**Supernatural**

**Control: 11  
Fate: 14  
Magic: 15**

...Yeah... his character really sucked... would this next section make anything better?

**Skills!**

**English: 100  
Parseltongue: 1**

**Astronomy: 50**

**Flying: 50**

**Duelling: 50**

**Discover more skills as you play!**

Well wasn't that nice. He had the skills that he had gained from his traits, fluent English skills and the possibility to learn parseltongue. He was sunk. He would be going into a kingdom ruled by a Dark Lord, probably Voldemort and he was going to die!

**Begin Game?**

**Yes  
No**

Harry growled at the game. He was probably going to die anyway... But the stupid thing had given him the tiniest bit of hope and he was so desperate that he was doing as they said. That did not mean that he had to like it, though.

"Yes, I want to go visit the Dark Kingdom. I hope I will not be killed too gruesomely."

**Beginning: Introduction**

**3... 2... 1...**

Harry watched as words slowly scrolled up the screen, his jaw dropping from horror... or pure unadulterated shock?

**Grindewald defeated Dumbledore in their famous duel, following which Dumbledore fled abroad. Grindewald then ruled supreme until his death some 9 years ago from this stories start. After his Death his post as High Lord of Amaranth was inherited by his successor: Tom Marvolo Riddle: Lord Voldemort. **

What was Amaranth and what was a High Lord? Was it anything like the Minister being the head of the Ministry? But the most important of all was that Dumbledore was alive! He would have to find him, and convince the Headmaster to let him help as soon as possible!

**The Kingdom of Amaranth, otherwise known as The Wizarding World, was created to exist in a stable parallel universe, located alongside the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Montabard. It is inhabited solely by Magical people, and Non-Magical Servants. **

This... was his brain working correctly? Because Harry was pretty sure that he had just been told that the Wizarding World was called Amaranth and existed in a parallel dimension. His brain could be pretty funny...

No! His brain was functioning just fine! It was just suffering from the sort of shock that naturally occurs when you die; discover that your life is a video game, and that you are in a parallel universe. The only reason that this would not be a psychological disorder would be because no-one would have ever thought of such a thing occurring! What was Montabard? What were Non-Magical servants...? Harry just hoped that muggles hadn't replaced house elves... please?

**The Kingdom of Montabard exists in a medieval state of development, and the Non-Magical Servants all come from here. Montabard once attempted to initiate a conquest of Amaranth, but because their people are completely incapable of magic they were repelled easily, and they are still recovering financially from the retaliation. The people of Montabard are aware of Amaranths existence.**

So there was another dimension, separate from both the Wizarding World and Muggle Britain that was medieval?! There had been a war! But that was probably why the people knew about magic... and their level of development was why they were allowed to know...

**The Muggle World or Earth is home to both Magical and Non-Magical people with the Magical populace living in secrecy. The Muggles are not aware of the Kingdom of Amaranth, the Wizarding World, but the Magical populace are. In order to maintain this secrecy, Muggleborn children in the United Kingdom are, once identified, removed during infancy before being raised in orphanages The Wizarding World.**

That was both incredibly cruel and inhumane, and yet better than Harry had ever expected. Providing that the orphanages weren't cruel... which he somewhat doubted... This was Lord Voldemort he was thinking of after all.

**It is in the Kingdom of Amaranth that Harry Peverell is born, on the 31****st**** July 1980. His father, James Peverell is the head of a minor pureblood family, formerly a professional Quidditch player who now manages the above average wealth of the Peverell family. He is a member of the Auror's Council.**

Wait a moment? His parents were normal! Harry had honestly thought that they would have been on the run, part of a resistance movement... Not perfectly normal people living a perfectly normal life! This was a Dark Kingdom for Merlin's sake!

**His mother, Hestia Peverell, nee Jones met James Peverell through her support of her cousin Gwenog Jones, another professional Quidditch player. **

More and more and more normality! Harry was feeling distinctly queasy and confused. How was this possible? First of all he was happy at the chance of a normal life... but how bad had things got for the others who did rebel? Somehow he didn't see Lord Voldemort being merciful...

**Harry is her only biological child, but following the deaths of her parents, her niece, Megan Jones has been placed under her guardianship since she was a baby. She is 2 Years younger than Harry, making her 9 at the start.**

Megan Jones... wasn't she that quiet Ravenclaw... He had never realised that she was related to Hestia. Well, he had never really known the girl herself either...

**Following the death of his father, James Peverell has inherited the Lordship, and the family is returning to the ancestral home of the Peverell's: Valenroy Hall, where the former Lady Peverell, Harry's grandmother resides still. Our story begins on 31****st**** July 1991, when Harry Peverell is turning 11, and is eagerly awaiting his Hogwarts letter...**

**What will happen in his future...?**

**Who knows...?**

**Authors Note:**

**So what do people think of the idea? I realise that this is not my best work, in fact it is probably my worst, so be kind please... **


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note**

**Hello everyone... it's been a long time since I updated this and you probably thought that it was abandoned. I will confess that it actually was until I received a review from defiasstone2 who inspired me to continue and who has helped with idea bouncing and such like.**

**Onto the important stuff... it is confirmed that this story is a harem, and I am currently still deciding who to include... and reviews with suggestions will be noted. Oh, and what would everyone's opinions on Lily being in the harem be; remember that in this world they are unrelated!**

**Let the Story Begin!  
**

**Harry Potter and the Video Game Life: Chapter 2!**

**...**

The world whirled around Harry, as if he was hurtling through space – which he might actually be, depending on how this alternate dimension thing worked. Then the blur of colours slowed and they, much to his bewilderment began to take on a kingfisher blue hue. Blinking rapidly Harry reached for nonexistent glasses, before remembering that he had no need of them in this world.

He was standing in a room which was the origin of the Kingfisher Blue colours. The shade seemed to be the theme for the wallpaper, curtains and carpet. Looking down Harry could see that he was standing on a thick carpet, which, strangely enough he was unable to feel. There was no reason why he shouldn't feel, upon looking down he seemed to have a fully functioning body; albeit his original one.

Walking around the bedchamber his footsteps did not make a sound, no matter how hard Harry stamped his feet. This led to him stumbling over his own bare feet and consequently grabbing on to the nearest thing, which in this case was the drapes. A beam of moonlight entered through the gap created, illuminating the fact that he was not alone. Harry stared in fascinated horror at the figure lying on the bed.

A faint, ghostly glow surrounded the boy, and he lay still... far too still. Harry walked closer listening out for any signs of the boy awakening. But as he drew closer the boy remained silent and immobile, even his chest which was not rising and falling as it should have done. A tendril of fear gripped Harry and he leaned over the boy. Nothing happened. The boy was not breathing. He was dead.

His breath hitching, Harry grabbed the boy's hand, and for the first time since his arrival in the room, Harry felt. It was an all too familiar feeling for him, the chill that haunted the bodies of the recently deceased. Then the screen appeared.

**Body Detected!**

**Name: Harry James Peverell**

**Status: Dead**

**Proceed with Soul Transfer?**

**Yes**

**No**

Harry grimaced, as the reality of the choice facing him settled in. He was going to replace this boy... no, this version of him. He had too. It was not that he wanted to take over the body of another, he had not realised that in creating a character he would create a world in which he had existed prior to his arrival.

Sure, it was good that he had not started off as a baby, but that bonus was dwarfed by the fact that he would be inheriting the role of this person. Harry resolved at that moment that he was going to be the best son he could be to his new family. He owed that to his new body's departed soul. And so his hand reached out and pressed the Yes button, and Harry felt a peculiar sensation as his soul merged with what was now his body. The last thing he saw before sleep claimed him was the message.

**Congratulations! Soul Transfer Successful!**

When Harry Peverell, formerly known as Harry Potter the boy-who-lived, woke up he was pleasantly surprised. The first thing he experienced was the silken sheets and Hogwarts quality mattress that was under him. He lay on a four poster bed which was more than spacious enough for someone twice his size and he was now significantly taller than his former, malnourished 11 year old body had been. It really was amazing how much a decent diet could do. Though the genetic modification he had done had also helped with that.

Unfortunately the size increase was not helping Harry now as he had stretched in contentment and had promptly banged his head on the headboard. That served to jolt him awake, and upon reaching under the pillow for a wand that he had habitually kept there and finding nothing he sprang out of bed and faced the enemy.

Years of living with an insane Dark Lord after your life did tend to cause paranoia as a side effect. In this case said enemy was a house elf which looked confused, and like it wouldn't hurt a fly. Harry stared blankly at the house elf before flopping back onto the bed and letting out a loud yell in pure joy. He was alive and he had a family and he was going to live without death threats. He knew that a long and hard road awaited him, but considering that he hadn't even had that option before, he felt great.

The house elf however was not able to understand Harry's thought process and all it could assume was that it has in some way hurt or offended the new young master of the house. Confusion turned to upset rather too quickly, as the elf lapsed into the stereotypical response when one had caused mental or physical injury to a member of its household.

"Kibbles, is being sorry master kibbles is being very sorry! Kibbles will pinch clothes pegs on his ears, Kibbles will!"

Harry gaped. Forget about not hurting a fly, the main danger to the house elf was itself! He quickly tried to diffuse the situation.

"No kibbles, it's fine. Actually I am very hungry, do you know anything about breakfast?"

That did the trick. Diverting the house elf to a job it could do was definitely not the Hermione approved method, but he had seen firsthand what her efforts had done to the elves of Hogwarts and did not want similar breakdowns. Kibbles… Really who named this elf… began to babble about breakfast being served at 8. A quick glance at the ornate grandfather clock in the corner told Harry that he had all of 20 minutes.

**New Quest: Attend breakfast with the family!**

**Objective 1: Arrive on time: +5 Relationship with Family**

**Objective 2: Wear appropriate attire: +5 Etiquette**

**Objective 3: Do not offend with table manners: +5 Manners**

**Failure: -5****,**** Relationship with Family per Objective failed**

That was overwhelming as well as difficult. Harry often hadn't even had breakfast at the Dursleys, and certainly was never taught appropriate decorum. His former relatives had delighted in punishing and scolding him for his freakishness and poor conduct was just another reason for them to do so. Looking down at his current outfit he was surprised to see a pair of navy silk pyjamas. Evidently, though, that was not what he should wear to breakfast. Aware of the ticking of his clock he dashed to the wardrobe and opened the door.

He stopped and stared at the mirror on the inside of the door. Yes he had seen this form before on the screen but for it to actually be his body, to lift his hand and see it touch his awed face was another matter altogether. Then the quest became a whole lot harder as he snapped himself out of his vanity and inspected the contents of the antique wardrobe. It was filled to the brim with shirts and trousers and robes as well as accessories such as ties and waistcoats. How was he supposed to choose?!

After 5 minutes Harry's once pristine room had become a dumping ground for piles of clothes, and he was still in his pyjamas. At the time it had seemed like a good idea to have all the possibilities out where he could see them. This was not turning out to be one of his brightest ideas. It was not until he called kibbles to restore a sense of order to the room that he had an idea. He consulted the elf on the matter of what to wear, and found that Kibbles was only too happy to oblige.

**Objective 2: Completed: +5, Etiquette!**

A minor rush of knowledge filled his head and all of a sudden Harry knew things about the social codes of conduct that he had never previously been aware of. This did have the side effect of giving him a minor headache and so another ten minutes had passed before Harry had deemed himself presentable. Even if he knew what he was supposed to wear the casual robes were still rather fiddly to put on. Though it did feel unusual to have his hair in a neat arrangement, not to mention odd that it only took a couple of minutes to get it that way.

He then faced his next challenge – finding the room that breakfast was held in. After all, he knew nothing about the layout of Valenroy Hall. Had Harry had the time he would have savoured every minute of the exploration, but unfortunately he did not. This was not because of the elegant and opulent decor; rather it was because of the half unpacked boxes of toys in the corner, the scarf haphazardly flung over the banister and the toy broomstick that he almost tripped over on his way downstairs.

It felt like home. More accurately it felt like his home, even though he had never seen it before. It was not like Hogwarts, or like the Dursleys, and definitely not like Grimmauld Place; rather it had such a personal feel to it, like it was lived in. Harry decided that he liked that feeling.

His feet unconsciously picked up speed as he raced down the hall in his haste to find the room where breakfast awaited. Normally he would have groaned at him not thinking to ask the house elf, but now he was just happy to be here. Time was ticking on, which meant that he had to settle for mere glances around the rooms he caught glimpses of. However In the end his trial and error of all the doors on the ground floor allowed Harry to arrive with barely 30 seconds to spare.

**Objective 1: Completed: +5, Relationship with Family!**

As soon as he entered a loud cheer exited from the mouth of a small girl, the only other child in the room.

Megan Jones, for that was the only person she could be, was absolutely adorable, and Harry could not help but stare. She had large hazel eyes, and matching hair that fell in a perfectly straight manner to her waist. So this was his cousin.

"Hurry up Harry! We can't open anything until we've eaten!"

She pouted prettily and Harry suddenly remembered the screen that had appeared before him just before he had woken up. Today was the day that he turned 11, and it was also the day he would get his Hogwarts letter! But before he could think about that anymore his breath hitched as he saw the other people present at the table.

The man who looked so much like his previous self was his father, James. The pink-cheeked woman with black hair was his mother, Hestia and the stern looking woman who reminded him of Neville's grandmother must therefore be his paternal grandmother... whose maiden name had been Dorea Black. Large green eyes drank in every detail that his brain could process about these people, no, his family. They were his family. That phrase was repeated several times inside Harry's mind, causing a grin to form on his face.

This was his family. This was his home. It was so easy to just let his thoughts go and forget for the time being about this being a dark kingdom. Everything he had wanted was here, and so for a fair few minutes he was silent, content to drink in the happy and peaceful atmosphere.

It was therapeutic, being in such a place as a welcome change from the tenseness of the War alone. That in itself was surprising. He had just come from fighting the Second Wizarding War, where he had been killed less than a day ago... so why was he so calm? The current him felt oddly detached from the past, which he thought suddenly, he was. Harry Potter was gone, replaced by Harry Peverell...

"Aren't you going to sit down Harry?"

Hestia asked in a melodic voice. She gave a smile which held hints of amusement at the corners.

"Yeah...!"

Megan could not help but punctuate her aunt's question with her agreement, and was quickly rebutted by Harry's grandmother.

"Megan! What have we told you about using slang?"

The strictness in the voice of the elderly women then took on a teasing lilt.

"You just want to get to the present opening already, do you not?"

There was no answer, but Megan's bright red face said it all. Harry chuckled and pulled his chair out then sat down gently, careful to keep his back straight just like how everyone else was effortlessly holding themselves. Proper posture hurt, though thankfully this body was used to it, which was why Harry guessed it did not ache as much as whenever he had tried it at Hogwarts.

The family made small talk, which Harry joined in with whenever he could. Unfortunately much of it was previous Birthdays, or current affairs... both of which he didn't know a thing about in this world, so his participation was somewhat stilted. But he observed plenty, seeing how his grandmother acted strict but would frequently tease him and Megan about past events.

His father was impulsive and the hardest to comprehend, purely because his mind jumped from topic to topic without warning, making it difficult for those who knew what he was talking about to understand, let alone for Harry!

Harry was also hampered by the cutlery when it came to making conversation. The only reason he had not messed up majorly was because he was watching how everyone else ate, and mimicking them to the best of his ability. Still, he thought he was doing alright... certainly better than ever before, even though that was not saying much.

"Is something the matter dear?"

Okay so maybe he was not doing quite as well as presumed. Hestia... no he had to stop calling her that – she was his mother now... was looking rather bewildered as she peered at him from across the table.

"Yeah... I mean yes! I'm fine... just a bit nervous... my Hogwarts letter is coming after all."

James groaned in mock exasperation before taking on a marginally more serious tone.

"Cheer up Harry... it's not like the entrance exam itself is on your birthday! Now that would be a reason to have a glum face... But the letter only schedules your examination time, and says whether you have the potential to attend or not. So there's nothing to worry about."

Harry thought to himself that there was very much something to worry about. There was now a Hogwarts entrance exam? He was sure that there had never been such a thing in the old Hogwarts he had attended. Furthermore his skills were pathetically few; as were his attributes pathetically low and he knew nothing about the curriculum in this world at all! What if he didn't pass? He could be exposed as a dimension traveller, or well, whatever he technically was. Merlin... there was a good chance that he would fail miserably... then what would his family think?!

**Objective 3: Completed: +5 Manners**

**All Objectives Complete! + 100XP**

"Harry... Harry... Harry... HARRY JAMES PEVERELL!"

The boy in question jerked to attention and spun around to face two annoyed looks, belonging to Megan and his grandmother respectively. The latter huffed, having been the one to call his name last.

"Breakfast is over, Harry, as you would know if you had been listening to Megan. You really are acting somewhat strange today. Anyway, your presents have been placed in the main lounge..."

"...And mine is going to be the best one ever, right Harry?"

A rather dazed Harry gave an awkward smile as Megan took him by the hand and led him to the mentioned room. He was grateful for that; he would have looked odd otherwise. It was what he saw when he entered the room that made his jaw drop. He felt a sense of déjà vu, and not in a good way. Presents were piled over what he presumed was a table, presumed so because the fact was that there so many presents it was hard to tell!

"I see we've stunned the birthday boy this year!"

His father ruffled his hair, and Harry flinched. The situation was too close for comfort to Dudley's eleventh birthday for his liking. However he managed to compose himself in time, and while his little jump of apparent joy looked odd it did not convey disgust in the same way a flinch would have.

Upon being handed the first of many presents he immediately recognised the contents. Having wrapped enough birthday presents for Hermione that felt and weighed very similar it was easy to tell that there was a book inside. That was definitely not a bad thing though, and any help in finding out about this world was not something that he would turn down.

Peeling back the wrapping paper with unfeigned excitement he blinked a few times. And then he blinked some more as a screen popped up in front of him, shielding his poor unfortunate eyes from the bright light being emitted from the book. His family however seemed to be unaffected... so the glow was probably something to do with the game anyway.

Pretending to examine the book he focussed on the screen, and the words displayed on it.

**Skill Books!**

**As you might have realised by now you can gain information from books. However this may be done in one of three different ways. A book may be able to teach you in more than one of these three ways... or none of these three ways depending on its contents. Here are the types of Skill Books, and their effects!**

**Type 1 Skill Books give a small boost to a skill without needing to be studied. They will always have a gold exclamation mark above them. These are the rarest type of skill books.**

**Type 2 Skill Books contain information that you do not know and so studying them and increasing your understanding will raise your skills. These are the most common type of skill books, and will emit a white light.**

**Type 3 Skill books will increase skills by a set amount when all the information inside them has been successfully comprehended. These are uncommon and can be identified by the sparkles that surround them.**

**NOTE: To lower the brightness of these effects, press the DOWN arrow in the corner of the screen.**

Harry quickly followed the instructions, pressed the down arrow, and was rewarded with visible surroundings once more. Looking at the book he was surprised to see all three of the described signs, albeit faintly. The book's title read 'Nails to Nature: A Study on Transforming Metals to Organic Material and Vice Versa'.

It took Harry a few seconds to realise that this was a book on how to turn matches into needles, as well as the other way round. Flicking open the pages he immediately noticed that it was covered in far greater detail than in his previous life, and was backed up by pages and pages of theory. There were all sort of miniscule variants that changed depending on whether you wished your oak branch to turn into a steel sword, or your titanium needle into a matchstick once more.

Opening the book led to another pop up screen, informing Harry of his new abilities.

**Transfiguration + 1!**

**New Transfiguration Spell: Terra Ferrum: Learnt!**

Harry grinned widely as he felt a minor pang before suddenly the basics of transfiguration appeared once more in his head. The grin began to rival that of a Cheshire cat as his eyes fell on the many, many book shaped parcels awaiting him. And was it him, or was the one slightly to the left of him under the telltale gold exclamation mark.

...An hour later...

**Charms + 1!**

**Transfiguration + 1!**

**Potions + 2!**

**Astronomy + 1!**

**Runes + 2!**

**Fashion + 1!**

**Politics + 1!**

**...**

**New Potion Recipe: Boil Cure: Learnt!**

**New Charms Spell: Lumos: Learnt!**

**New Charms Spell: Nox: Learnt!**

Since most of the books that Harry had received were either fictional stories or skill books that he would have to actually study to learn spells and increase skills, his overall statistics had not changed that much. But when you considered that he had improved this much in the space of an hour it was remarkable progress. Harry could not wait to be able to attend Hogwarts and browse the library there... after all some of those books had to be skill books.

Of course, the more pessimistic side of him whispered, he would have to actually pass the Hogwarts exam first. But his level of worry about that would depend on the date of the exam, and how long he had to prepare for it. The only reason that that particular thought weighed so heavily on his mind at the moment was because he was sitting with his family in the parlour waiting for the letter to arrive.

Valenroy Hall's parlour was equipped with two fire places, one of them for floo calls, the other for owls to drop the post down. As a few more minutes passed in silence, except for the background chatter of Megan and his grandmother playing chess, Harry was getting more and more on edge. What if something had gone wrong with the transition and he wasn't going to get a letter?! He hesitantly voiced that thought.

"Mother... what will happen if I don't get a letter... or if I don't pass the exam..."

Hestia Peverell looked up from her copy of the Daily Prophet.

"You'll simply attend one of the other Magical Academies of course. Hogwarts isn't the only decent school, and you are already assured a place at Hemlock Hall, if nothing else."

James Peverell then chipped in with his viewpoint.

"Don't you worry son... every Peverell that's ever been has gone to Hogwarts. If you can't get in we'll just have to disown you!"

"James Peverell!"

Apparently all of the females in the room had taken umbrage at the, admittedly in rather poor taste, joke. Harry found a chuckle escaping. It was good to be cared about... and their immediate defence reminded him of Hermione! That did dampen his mood somewhat, and he made a mental wish that, wherever she was, she was doing well. Sadly though, he doubted that he would see her at Hogwarts, unless there was some kind of scholarship program. It was times like this that made him rue not knowing more.

And then five pairs of eyes shot to the fireplace as a thick parchment letter fell with a thud down the chimney. Harry was on his feet first, battle honed reflexes and a high dexterity serving him well. Thus he was the one who managed to snatch the letter before it had even managed to land in the grate.

Fingers fumbling with the all too familiar seal he failed to notice his family gathered around until he dropped the letter on the ground and had it handed back to him by Megan. Eyes wide he scanned the neat handwriting for that crucial piece of information; the date of the exam.

Dear Mr. Peverell

,

We are pleased to inform you that you are under consideration for a place at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, First Ranked among the 81 Magical Academies of Amaranth. Please report to the Ministry of Magic, Testing Room 127 on Sunday the 17th of August for your assessment. Please note that all necessary equipment will be provided, and that you should bring the attached form detailing your chosen companion with you.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

The first fact that sunk in was the fact that Professor McGonagall was still alive and was teaching at Hogwarts. Which was somewhat odd, now that Harry came to think of it, for a member of the Order of the Phoenix to be teaching in a Dark Kingdom? He supposed that he would just be thankful that the strict Deputy Headmistress was still alive.

The next thing to register was the day of the exam, which was in two weeks and three days. That was not exactly good, but not exactly bad either and Harry hoped that if he studied like crazy he would be able to pass with a decent mark. In his second chance he would get good grades... or at least not bad ones like he would have gotten previously – had Hermione not been there to help.

The final oddity that was made known took the form of a question. What in Merlin's name was a companion? He must have voiced that out loud, because Harry's grandmother gave him a disapproving look as she spoke.

"Harry you really must pay more attention in your political lessons. You know that muggle-born children are relocated to the magical world as infants?"

At her grandsons nod of agreement she gave a small sigh of relief before continuing.

"Well in order to give these unfortunate children a chance to attend premier Magical Academies such as Hogwarts there fees are subsidised by those Half-bloods and Pure-bloods who pay the attendance fees. "

She paused for a moment and pinched the space in-between her brows as if she had a headache.

"But in order for this to be fair those who pay are allowed to choose the muggle-born who they will allow to attend. These fortunate children are called companions, and act as servants of a sort outside of classes. You've met your father's companion, and your godfathers... you know Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin respectively."

To say that Harry was shocked was an understatement. He was also gritting his teeth at the idea of Pettigrew being alive in this universe. But his mind was quick to seize on the completely unrelated opportunity that it thought had just been presented to it on a silver platter.

"Does that mean that I have to choose a companion?"

She smiled and nodded. Harry beamed with joy... he would be able to rescue Hermione! But... then he remembered his mother. How was he supposed to choose between his mother and his best friend? He dared to venture another question, this time to his father.

"Have there ever been a case of someone having more than one companion?"

"Of course there have... there are some every year!"

"Does that mean that I could...?"

Harry was then cut off by his father's next words.

"Sorry son, but that's a privilege only allowed for the elite students, the ones who get the highest scores in the exam overall, or those who are extremely talented in a single area. And I'm afraid that with your grades that's impossible."

Harry buried his head in his hands causing Hestia to shoot a glare at James before placing her hand on Harry's back in a show of comfort.

"Darling, I don't know why this is so important to you, but you can always try... we'll enter you into the exams..."

And then there was another sharp stare aimed in the direction of James.

"...Just promise me that you'll try your hardest, alright?"

Harry's head slowly lifted and he looked into supporting hazel eyes. The next thing he knew his arms were flung around his mother and he was thanking her profusely. Then Megan collided with him as she too tried to get in on the hug. When his grandmother went to pull the enthusiastic nine year old back she somehow joined in and last but not least James threw himself into the hug. Harry could honestly say that he had not been this happy for a long time. The question was now about preparing for the exam... where should he start? As he smiled he could just about see the notification for the pertinent quest.

**New Quest: Pass the Hogwarts Entrance Exam!**

**Objective 1: Pass all Exams: +3 Knowledge**

**Objective 2: Score Highly on MAGIC (Magical Aptitude General Insight Calculator): +50 MP**

**Bonus Objective 1: Become an Elite Student: +2 Intelligence**

**Bonus Objective 2: Befriend the Examiner: + 10 Socialize**

**Objective Failure: Inability to Attend Hogwarts**

It looked to Harry as if he was in for a hectic few weeks!

**End of Chapter 2**

So what do you think...? Please review if you enjoyed the chapter!

_**Harry's Statistics**_

**Physical**

**Dexterity: 17**  
**Endurance: 10**  
**Strength: 10**

**Mental**

**Intelligence: 11**  
**Knowledge: 10**  
**Perception: 10**

**Social**

**Charisma: 10**  
**Wisdom: 10**  
**Willpower: 11**

**Supernatural**

**Control: 11**  
**Fate: 14**  
**Magic: 15**

**Skills**

**Language Skills**

**English: 100**  
**Parseltongue: 1**

**Hogwarts Skills**

**Astronomy: 51  
Charms: 1  
Potions: 2  
Transfiguration: 2  
Runes: 2**

**Physical Skills**

**Flying: 50  
Duelling: 50**

**Social Skills**

**Politics: 1  
Fashion: 1  
Etiquette: 5  
Manners: 5**


End file.
